The Final Year
by HPWylie
Summary: This is Harry's final year at Hogwarts. A new exchange
1. Goodbye Privet Drive

Chapter 1

Good Bye Privet Drive

It had been the worst summer ever, Harry thought as he threw his robes and supplies into his trunk haphazardly. It had been the first summer, in a long time that he had had to spend entirely at Privet Drive. Although Harry knew he had been confined there for his own safety, it didn't make matters any better.

He stopped packing for a moment and went to the opened second story window of his bedroom, gazing out at the velvety, midnight blue sky. _This_, he thought, _will be my last night with the Dursleys._

There were many things Harry Potter was uncertain of in his life, but this was not one of them. He had just turned 17 and this was going to be his last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As soon as he graduated, he would be a free man. Well, not exactly free, he was still bound to the prophecy that had been revealed to him at the end of fifth year, but freer in many ways then he had ever been.

He had agreed reluctantly, at the end of term, to Dumbledore's request that he stay at Privet Drive for the entire summer. In fact, he told him point blank, that he would not be returning after graduation. Dumbledore had tried to remind him of his mother's lingering protection in the home of his Aunt, but Harry didn't care. 16 years with the Dursleys treating him as if he was something foul they had discovered on the bottom of a shoe had been quite enough. No, tonight would be his last night.

That was the only thought that had sustained him over the last few months, especially as it became apparent that neither Ron nor Hermione were going to come and visit him during the holiday break. He had felt quite alone, and had quickly begun to sympathize with how Sirius must have felt during his imprisonment at Grimmauld Place. He still couldn't believe that neither of his two best friends could take the time to come and see him, especially knowing he had not been allowed off the postage stamp-sized Dursley property in months.

It was true that Harry had been receiving regular owls from not only Ron and Hermione, but from Fred and George too, telling him how well Weasley Wizarding Wheezes was doing, but it wasn't the same. He also received occasional owls from Tonks, Lupin, and, of course, Hagrid. However, there was such a concern that the owls would be intercepted, that no real information could be sent. And since the Dursleys had permanently cemented up their fireplace (after the fiasco with the Weasleys showing up via Floo Powder), Harry couldn't even use that to find out what was going on.

His only news sources, other than muggle television and newspapers, was the Daily Prophet. That, he knew from experience, was a highly untrustworthy source. Two years ago, the Daily Prophet had refused to acknowledge all the signs that Voldemort had returned. They had instead painted Harry as some sort of raving, attention hungry, lunatic, and Dumbledore as an old codger that had finally gone off his rocker. Now, however, they had totally flipped.

Seeing sales skyrocket every time a Voldemort sighting was reported, the Daily Prophet had decided to make every inane incident out to be the work of the Dark Lord and his Death Eater followers. Harry glanced over to the bottom of Hedwig's litter strewn cage at yesterday's headline. In big bold letters it read, "HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED SUSPECTED IN STRANGE RASH OUTBREAK AT MUGGLE SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LONDON". Of course upon further reading, Harry immediately recognized the "strange rash" as merely teenage acne.

Then there had been the owls he had received a few weeks ago. One from Ron. One from Hermione. Both arriving within minutes of each other. Those owls had contained news, but it was news that had caused his heart to plummet into his stomach, and he wasn't certain why.


	2. On the Way to Kings Cross

Chapter 2

On the Way to Kings Cross

"All, I'm saying is that I think it may be best for her to transfer to a _regular_ school this year." Mr. Granger's voice droned on. "I'm sure Hermione can continue taking witch lessons by correspondence or something."

"Darling," Mrs. Granger placated her husband calmly, "we've been through this a million times. Hermione will be absolutely safe at Hogwarts. And, Professor McGonagall assured us that she'll actually be _safer_ there."

Hermione sat in the back seat of her parents silver Volvo as it made its way to Kings Cross. She hated when her parents discussed her like this, like she wasn't sitting two feet from them, like she wasn't almost an adult who had been involved in more dangerous situations than most people three times her age.

She looked out the window and watched the rolling countryside pass by as her father and mother continued to debate a topic that was truly a moot point. Hogwarts was the safest place for her to be and she was going. That was that. Her father knew this, but Hermione knew that debating was just something her parents did, whether the end result mattered or not. It wasn't arguing, like some couples, it was more of an endless discussion until one or the other finally conceded. Sometimes, she thought her parents actually kept score.

Hermione sank back against the leather seat, pulled the sweater she was wearing closer around her, to ward off the chill from the car's air conditioning, and closed her eyes. She let her mind wander as she mentally tuned out her parents' conversation, letting it drift into the background like the hum of the tires on the road and the gentle purr of the auto's motor.

Soon she was thinking back to the summer, her last before having to enter the 'real world', as her parents called it…

_It had been quite a summer for Hermione. The second week she was home, her parents hosted a barbeque and invited the new neighbors over. It turned out they had a son Hermione's age named William that was home from Eton. _

_He was handsome and intelligent, and the two of them hit it off from the beginning. Hermione's father was thrilled. It was the first time she had had a muggle boyfriend, and he had high hopes that this would be a long-term relationship. Hermione actually thought it might be the beginnings of something as well. Being with William made her forget the mortal peril the wizarding world was truly in, at times. That is until three weeks later, when William's girlfriend from Surrey showed up at his doorstep, while he and Hermione were outside together sitting on a garden swing. Hermione didn't speak with him again. _

_After that, the month of July was one sunny, but boring, day blurred into the next. Hermione kept busy going over the N.E.W.T. preparation texts she had brought home to read over the summer. She too was incommunicado with most of the people from the Order, and could glean nothing of importance from the Daily Prophet about what was happening on the war against Voldemort. _

_Hermione was poring over the most recent issue of the Prophet, trying to detect any real piece of news from it when Pigwidgeon scampered through the window. He fluttered madly about Hermione's head as she tried to catch a hold of Ron's wee, little owl. Finally, she caught the manic tiny ball of feathers, no larger than a tennis ball, and was able to remove the letter that was tied to its leg. _

_She opened the letter to see Ron's untidy scrawl._

Hello Hermione,

I was just talking to my mum and she was thinking you'd like to come for a visit next week. We're going to Diagon Alley the week after next, so maybe you could stay for both weeks and go with us? We have to pick up Harry's books too. You know why. He got a bit shirty with me when I told him Mum said we'd bring his books to Kings Cross. Anyway, can't blame him. I think he's going a bit bonkers locked up with those muggles all summer.

Oh, Ginny, says you have to come because she is so bored with just me around. Feeling's mutual, Gin. Well, send your reply back with Pig and Dad said he'll set your house up on the Floo Network for the day.

Ron – oh, and Ginny.

_When Hermione arrived at the Burrow, it was the emptiest she had ever seen it, yet somehow the home was still filled with the love of a family that was as close knit as the Weasleys. She stepped out of the fireplace into the welcoming hug of Mrs. Weasley. Ron stood back a bit, raised his hand and said, "Hello, Hermione." as Mr. Weasley appeared in the fireplace as well._

"_Thank you so much for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Hermione smiled as she pulled herself from Mrs. Weasley's embrace. "Hello, Ron."_

"_Not a problem, not a problem at all, dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled back. "Well, Ron, help Hermione take her bags up to Ginny's room."_

_As Ron grabbed her bags and turned to go upstairs, Mr. Weasley said only half-jokingly as he brushed a bit of soot of his robes, "We'd let you stay in Fred and George's room, dear, but we're not quite certain we've got all of their **paraphernalia** out yet. Wouldn't want you to sprout antlers in the middle of the night, now would we?"_

"_Uh, no." Hermione replied, "Ginny's room will be great. Thank you." And with that, she followed Ron up the stairs to the third floor landing._

_When they reached Ginny's room, Ron opened the door and heaved Hermione's bags onto the spare bed that had been wheeled in for her. _

"_Where is Ginny anyway?" Hermione asked as Ron plopped down on Ginny's bed to watch Hermione unpack._

"_Oh, she got a letter the day after we found out you could come visit." Ron said, looking a bit uncomfortable about the subject. He lowered his voice, as if he didn't want anyone to hear. "She had to go to Hogwarts. Remedial potions!"_

_Hermione stopped unpacking and looked at Ron, her brow furrowed. "You're kidding."_

"_No, wish I was." He replied. "I thought Mum and Dad were going to have kittens when they found out! Said even Fred and George never had to go to summer school!"_

"_I never knew she was having so much trouble." Hermione said as she sat down across from Ron._

"_Yeah. Me neither. We found out she didn't pass her O.W.L. in potions, and mum and dad wrote Professor Dumbledore to see if there was anyway she could still take potions this year. _

"_I guess Snape said the only way would be if she took remedial potions to catch her up a bit. Hopefully the extra help will put her back on the right track. Although I don't know how spending anytime with Snape could help anyone." Ron shuddered at the thought of receiving almost private tutelage from his least favorite professor._

"_I wish she'd said something to me." Hermione frowned as she began to unpack again. "I would've been happy to help her."_

"_I'm guessing she was a bit embarrassed really. Probably didn't think it'd get that bad, you know? Anyway, it's been really, really quiet around here. It's made me glad you were coming." He smiled at her._

"_So, how is everyone else doing?" Hermione asked as she put several pairs of shorts into a drawer Ginny had labeled **Hermione's**._

"_Well," Ron said as he looked up at the ceiling as if he had to really think about how the remainder of his siblings were "Fred and George are doing really well with WWW. They have a flat now right on Diagon Alley. Said they wanted to be close to their shop. Bill and Charlie are still in London too. Charlie's dying to go back to Romania, but he knows he's needed here. Bill's still working for Gringotts in Diagon Alley, which is convenient for the Order. And, Percy's still a prat."_

_Hermione put the remainder of her clothes neatly into the now full drawer and shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe he's still in denial. Even Fudge accepted the fact that Voldemort's back."_

_Ron shuddered again at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. _

"_Oh, seriously, Ron!" Hermione scolded. "It's just a name!"_

"_Sorry. It's habit." _

_The next morning Hermione, Ron and Mrs. Weasley enjoyed a delicious breakfast out on the patio. The morning sun was already bright and warm, a drastic change from the previous day of solid rain. The birds chirped merrily from tree to tree and the smell of summer, a mixture of lilacs and fresh grass, wafted through the air. _

_"I wish Arthur had had time to have breakfast with us this morning." Mrs. Weasley mused as she began to gather up the plates._

_Hermione immediately joined in the clearing process, while Ron stretched back lazily in his chair, allowing the front two legs come off the ground, letting the yellow sun shine fully on his face, closing his eyes dreamily._

_"He must be very busy at the Ministry." Hermione said as she gathered up the carafe that had held the orange juice._

_"Oh yes! Very busy!" Mrs. Weasley replied as the two women walked into the kitchen. _

_Once the dishes were in the sink, Mrs. Weasley gave her wand a little swish and instantly the faucets turned on and a sponge jumped to life scrubbing clean the dirty dishes. After each dish was scrubbed, another flick of Mrs. Weasley's wand and they were then sent off to a hovering towel to be dried and then levitated back into the cabinet. "I've hardly seen Arthur over the last month, to be quite honest."_

_As the last dish was dried and placed safely away. Mrs. Weasley turned to the Weasley family clock and sighed as she gazed at her husband's hand that had spent so much time in the 'Work' position lately. "Well," she said as she came out of her reverie "I'm going into Diagon Alley for some shopping, and I'm going to bring Arthur some lunch. Hopefully he'll have time to take a little break and eat with me. I should be home before dinner."_

_"Is there something I can fix for dinner for everyone?" Hermione offered._

_"That is so incredibly sweet!" Mrs. Weasley smiled. "But, no, I'll make something when I return. You enjoy yourself, you only have a few more weeks of summer holiday left!" With that, Mrs. Weasley grabbed her handbag from the shelf and disapparated away with a **POP!**_

_Hermione turned and walked outside to find Ron still stretched out lazily in his chair._

_"Where's Mum?" he asked not opening his eyes._

_"She went to Diagon Alley, and she was going to try to have a lunch date with your father. She said she'd be home before supper."_

_Ron finally sat up and looked at Hermione questioningly. "If she's going to be gone all day, who's going to make lunch? Did she leave food?"_

_"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione shouted. "You have got to be kidding?! Are you two?"_

_"No, but.." Ron started._

_"The way you act sometimes!" Hermione turned and began to walk out towards the garden gate. "Come on!" She said as she turned back towards him. "Show me the pond your father put in."_

_Ron got up from his chair, shaking his head and muttering, "Women." And jogged to catch up with her._

_The pond was quite larger than Hermione had expected. She had imagined something that would have been appropriate in a garden. The Weasley pond, however, was more like a very, small lake. It was located on the far edge of the Weasley's property. Only the uppermost chimneystack of the Burrow could be seen in the distance._

_A path meandered around the outside edge, lined with heavenly scented flowering shrubs and plants. Cattails grew in one end. Ron explained his father had planted those there for the babies._

_"Babies?" Hermione asked._

_"Dad stocked it with fish. He's got a new muggle fascination now. Fly fishing. Spends what little amount of free time he has at night wrapping string around hooks. It's really bizarre. Says it's an art or something." Ron said as he picked up a rock and skipped it across the mirror like surface of the pond, sending ripples cascading to the far side._

_"He's given up on plugs then?" Hermione asked as they continued to walk around the perimeter._

_"Well, not really given up. Just more like added on to." Ron said. "But, he hasn't really had time to even come down here and do any fishing, with work and everything."_

_"That's a shame. So, how's Padma?" Hermione asked casually._

_"Padma who?" Ron said a bit sarcastically as he skipped another rock._

_"Padma… your **girlfriend**?" Hermione replied annoyed at his evasiveness._

_"Oh… **her**." Ron said a bit bitterly, as he threw a third rock and instead of skipping it simply went **PLOOMP**! to the bottom of the pond. "She's fine I guess."_

_"Oh." _

_"Broke up with me though." Ron continued as his fourth rock skimmed across the surface of the pond._

_Hermione looked at him, startled at the news. "Really?! When? Whatever for?"_

_"Yes, really. Beginning of summer. And said I didn't pay enough attention to her." Ron said sulkily as he threw his last stone as far as he could into the center of the pond._

_"Well, that's a bit unfair, isn't it?" Hermione said a bit irritably. "After all we went through last year." She shook her head and continued to gaze out over the slowly relaxing water._

_"Doesn't really matter. I didn't fancy her that much anyway." Ron replied. _

_Ron and Hermione continued their walk around the pond. Hermione changed the subject hoping Ron would have some information on what was going on with Voldemort and the Order, but he too had been kept in the dark. Even though his father worked for the Ministry of Magic and was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Ron hadn't been able to find out anything significant._

_He had even asked Fred and George, who had joined the Order last year, when they came to visit the weekend before last. "Wouldn't tell me a thing." Ron sulked. "They kept saying, _Ickle Ronniekins is too young to know about the bad stuff going on in the world._ And then they'd laugh and walk off. Right frustrating, plus the fact that they switched my toothpaste out with their newest product, Totally Troll Teeth. I had giant, brown, square teeth jutting out of my mouth all morning!"_

_Hermione tried not to laugh, covered her mouth and pretended to cough._

_"It wasn't funny." Ron mumbled as he walked off ahead, heading back to the Burrow._

_Hermione caught up to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. She hadn't realized how much taller he was than her until that moment. "Ron…"_

_Two things happened quite quickly and at the same time. Ron turned to look at Hermione, prepared to remind her of the tooth hex she had suffered in 4th year and how not funny that was. And, Ron stepped in a gnome hole and fell instantly to the still muddy ground._

_"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted as he clutched his ankle._

_"Ron! Are you OK?" Hermione said as she bent over him._

_"My ankle! I think I've broken it! Blasted garden gnomes! I told dad we should just exterminate the whole lot of them, but he thinks they're funny."_

_Just then a little, brown, potato shaped creature popped out of the hole Ron had tripped in, shaking his pointy, little fists at Ron and gnashing his teeth as if he had overheard what Ron had said about him. Ron instinctively kicked at the creature, but had mistakenly chosen to use his injured leg._

_"Oooohhh!" He screamed as the gnome scurried back down his hole._

_"Ron, you have to calm down." She said as she took carefully pulled up his pant leg to look at his ankle. "Your ankle is starting to swell."_

_"Alright." Ron said as he leaned back further onto the muddy ground, going a bit pale from the pain._

_"I'm going to run back to the house and see if your Mum's back. If not, I'll try flooing your father at the office, or maybe Fred or George at the shop." Hermione stood up to leave when Ron grabbed her leg._

_"You're… you're not leaving me here **alone** are you?" He asked a hint of panic in his voice. "What if some beast finds me lying here all helpless?"_

_Hermione snorted. "Give me a break, Ron. You'll be fine. Are you afraid the gnomes are going to get you?!"_

_"Well, you saw the little bugger! I bet they'd love to get their little teeth in me! He's probably rounding up his mates right now!"_

_"Fine." Hermione sighed. "I'll help you walk back to the house and see what we can do there."_

_The pair slowly made their way across the hilly land back to the Burrow, in the distance. Ron used Hermione as a crutch, his one clean arm around her shoulders, and her arm around his waist. More than once another gnome hole, a rock, root, or fallen tree branch threatened to send the pair toppling again. This, coupled with the herd of gnomes that had accumulated a short distance behind them giggling at their slow progress, did not improve Ron's mood._

_Finally, they reached the garden gate, walked across the lawn and approached the house._

_"Wait!" Ron said suddenly. "I can't go inside."_

_"What? Why not?"_

_"Are you kidding? Mum would skin me alive if I went in there covered in mud! Can you go up to my room and grab me a pair of jeans?" Ron asked as he began to take off his muddy t-shirt._

_"Sure." She said as she turned and went into the house._

_A minute later, she returned with a clean pair of jeans. Ron was standing there, on one leg, still in his muddy pants, but with his shirt off and tossed carelessly over the back of one of the patio chairs. Hermione stopped halfway out the kitchen door. _

_She had never seen Ron with his shirt off, nor would she have guessed that his arms would be so well muscled. Not those bulky, round muscles competition body builders get, no, these were long, lean muscles, more like you'd see on a the flanks of a powerful animal, such as a tiger. _Yes, a tiger_ She thought._

_His stomach muscles were also well defined giving clue to thousands of sit-ups and crunches. And his pecs told her he had to have been working out sometime. Even his shoulders looked strong and broad. He had a slight tan, giving his whole upper body a warm, golden glow that she simply could not look away from._

_"Uh… Hermione? Could I have my pants?" Ron's voice broke into her thoughts._

_"Oh… yeah… sorry." She crossed the short distance between them, still not taking her eyes off his chest. _

"Thanks." He said as he took the pants from her. The two of them simply stood there, Ron looking at her quizzically, and Hermione looking at him with her mouth slightly open. "Are you going to turn around or something, so I can put my pants on?"

_Hermione shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, immediately blushing in embarrassment that she had been staring at him so. "Yeah, ummm… I'm just going to go back inside and see if I can find something for your ankle. I'll be back in a second."_

_She rushed inside the darkened house. She stopped and leaned on the counter, letting the coolness of the house's interior wash over her body. Collecting her thoughts._

_What had she been thinking anyway? It was just Ron, for goodness sake. _Yeah, but Ron with his shirt off._ Her brain answered._

_She took a deep breath and made her way upstairs to see what she could find in the linen closet, for Ron's swelling ankle. Tucked behind an assortment of bottles and boxes, Hermione found what she was looking for. Dr. Devlin's All Purpose Bandages For strains, sprains, muscle aches, headaches, and warts._

_Hermione ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and returned to the patio. Ron had changed, but was still shirtless. Even sitting, his lean muscles looked almost fluid underneath his sun kissed skin. She broke her gaze away from his torso and looked into his eyes. He was smiling at her, shaking his head in disbelief._

_"What is with you, Hermione?"_

_"Oh," she quickly recovered this time, "you have a little bit of dirt, right here." She pointed to her nose, "Did you know?"_

_Ron's smile widened and then turned into a laugh. "Are you going to bandage my ankle or just let my foot fall off from gangrene?"_

_"You can't get gangrene from a sprain." Hermione laughed as she knelt down on the ground next to the foot he held elevated off the ground several inches._

_Hermione carefully untied his mud-covered sneaker, removed it, and then lifted up his pant leg to remove his sock. She looked up into his face, his red hair glistening in the mid-day sun. _He is rather cute all helpless like this,_ she thought._

"OK, this may hurt a little, but I'll be as careful as I can." Hermione warned him.

_"OK" he squeaked out, and took in a deep breath, preparing for the worst._

_Very carefully, Hermione rolled down his sock pausing just above the obvious bulge of swelling that had already begun. Slowly reaching in to the sock, she positioned her fingers of both hands so she could stretch it over the injury. Ron winced as her finger brushed the swollen mass._

_"Sorry." She said as she continued to pull the sock around the heel._

_"It's OK." He managed to reply while still holding his breath._

_Finally, the sock was off and both Ron and Hermione let out a large sigh._

_"Now, I'm going to bandage it." Hermione explained. Ron nodded._

_She held up the Dr. Devlin's box and read the instructions on the back._

_"Are you seriously reading that box?" Ron asked in amazement._

_"Well, yes, of course." She said turning her attention back to the box._

_"I swear you'll read anything, won't you?" Ron sighed heavily again. "That's fine. I'll just sit here in pain. Take your time."_

_After only a moment, Hermione took the bandage out of the box, and set the box on the ground. "There, I'm done. That didn't take so long, now did it?" She looked at him and smiled. _

"_Now the box says we wrap it in a counter-clockwise motion, when facing the injured person. So…. it goes like this…." She gently placed the end of the flesh-colored bandage on the top of Ron's foot and began wrapping it counter-clockwise. She looked up at him again to make certain she wasn't hurting him. He had leaned forward to watch and Hermione once again became mesmerized by the sinewy muscles of his shoulders and upper arms flexing ever so slightly under his skin. _

Focus, Hermione! For Merlin's sake!_ She scolded herself and went back to work._

_As he leaned forward further to take a better look, Hermione got a whiff of a spicy, yet sweet scent, with an underlying tone of the ocean. Once again, she looked up from her bandaging into the face of one of her best friends in the entire world._

"_Are you wearing cologne?" She asked._

"_Huh? Cologne? No, it's probably the soap my Mum bought at some boutique in town the other day. It's a little frilly for me."_

"_I like it. It smells nice." Hermione smiled up at him. He actually was quite handsome, when she came to think about it._

"_Yeah?" He said. "I guess it's OK."_

Hermione went back to wrapping Ron's ankle, trying desperately not to look back up at his naked chest, knowing it was only a few inches from her. The scent of him kept teasing her nose as the gentle summer breeze played with the air around her. Finally she was done.

"_Now, I just put these clips on, and we see what color it turns." She told him, trying to regain some of her composure._

"_What color my **leg** turns?" Ron asked, panic rising once again in his voice._

"_No, silly, the bandage."_

"_Oh… right."_

_Hermione put the two clips that secured the outer end of the bandage to the wrapping and waited. Very slowly the bandage turned from fleshy skin color to a bright fuchsia._

"_Oh good, pink!" Hermione exclaimed._

"_What does pink mean? And does it stay that color?" Ron questioned._

"_Pink means it's just a strain, nothing serious. You should feel it getting cooler now." She said._

"_Yeah, it is."_

"_Then it's working right. In a few minutes it should go through a heating cycle, and then cooling. Back and forth until you're healed, which should be by tomorrow morning, according to the box." Hermione informed him as she picked up the box. "Come on, I'll help you into the living room. Maybe we can play chess?"_

_Hermione once again acted as human crutch as Ron made his way across the patio, through the kitchen and into the living room. She sat him down on the couch and then grabbed a throw pillow from the rocking chair in the corner. She put the pillow on the coffee table and then lifted Ron's leg up, setting it gently down on the pillow._

"_How's that?" She asked as she kneeled on the couch next to him._

"_Much better." Ron replied, and then turned to look into Hermione's eyes. "You know, Hermione, I don't think I've ever told you this, but… well.." he turned away from her, his cheeks beginning to flush. "You're really great. You know that, right?"_

"_Oh, Ron, that's so sweet." And with that she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek backing only slightly away from him when she was finished, her heart racing as the spicy, sweet, oceany scent began to wash over her. "Thank you." She continued breathlessly, leaning in again for a second kiss on the cheek, but this time Ron turned his head and met her mouth with his own._

_She pulled away just enough to look into his eyes, uncertain. The smile that greeted her took away any doubt, however, and she leaned back in to kiss his lips gently again. Butterflies danced merrily in the pit of her stomach, as once again he met her kiss with his own. _

_Slowly, very slowly, they deepened the kiss, moving from soft, gentle, testing pecks, to more prolonged contact. Hermione felt the gentle tickle of his tongue, as he tenderly kissed her bottom lip. She responded by lightly taking the corner of his top lip in between hers again echoing with a soft touch from the tip of her tongue. _

_The next thing she knew he had fully captured her mouth and deepened the kiss, sending her pulse racing and her head spinning. She wanted nothing more than to continue kissing him that way for the rest of her life. His hands were in her hair, then cradling the sides of her face, and then working their way down her neck._

_Instinctively, she moved her body over him, kneeling now on either side of his lap. She allowed her hands to travel from his thick hair, down his face, and onto his neck, mimicking his movements. Her hands traveled further, as his did too, across his broad shoulders and down the outside of his upper arms. _

_Lightly she ran her fingers up and down his arms, feeling the muscles she had been admiring only a short time earlier. His hands were now caressing her back, doing lazy circles, underneath her shirt, down her back and then back up all the way to the top of her neck, sending shivers down her spine each time._

_More than anything she wanted to run her hands along his torso, so very gently she arched herself away from his body, still keeping his mouth firmly on hers. Very slowly, she moved her hands back up his arms and across his shoulders, this time allowing her hands to cascade down his chest._

_Ron gasped slightly has her fingertips brushed his exposed nipples and then danced along his stomach. His stomach clenched uncontrollably under her touch. Hermione could begin to feel the effect she was having on Ron._

Perhaps this wasn't the best place to sit._ She thought to herself as Ron's lips left her mouth and trailed down to her neck. As she ran her fingers back up his chest and back into his hair, he pulled her firmly into him and buried his mouth into the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. _

_Hermione threw her head back, moaned gently, and thought, _Perhaps it was.

_Suddenly, they heard a **POP!** coming from the kitchen and immediately they both knew someone else was home. Luckily, Mrs. Weasley had thought the two of them would be outside on such a beautiful day, and went to the outside door first, rather than heading towards the living room._

_Hermione jumped off Ron's lap hitting his injured leg with her foot._

"_OW!" He winced._

"_Sorry!" Hermione said trying to straighten her shorts and smooth her hair. "Stay here." She said as she went out to find Mrs. Weasley._

"Like I could go anywhere!" Ron complained.

_Hermione headed for the patio, found Mrs. Weasley and told her of Ron's ankle. Hurriedly, Mrs. Weasley came into the living room and began to inspect Hermione's handiwork. _

"_Well," she said carefully looking over the bandage that was still a shocking pink "it looks like you've done a good job wrapping this, Hermione. And, it appears to only be a bit of a strain, thank Heavens!" _

_She stood up straight, surveyed her son, and then shaking her head she began to walk back into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, muttering to herself. "I don't know how many times I've told your father we need to be rid of those gnomes once and for all. Could've broken your neck. Blasted things digging up my gardens, leaving ruddy holes everywhere…" Mrs. Weasley's voice trailed off as the door to the kitchen swung closed._

"_So…" Ron started not looking at Hermione "do you want to play chess?"_

"_Oh, sure." She answered with anything but certainty._

_The rest of the evening passed by quite uncomfortably for Hermione. It was just the three of them for dinner, as it had been at breakfast. Mr. Weasley was once again working late. Mrs. Weasley had brought trays into the living room, so Ron could eat with his foot still propped up. _

_Hermione sat on Mr. Weasley's chair, as far away as possible from Ron. Yet, she found herself laughing a bit too loudly at the not so funny things Ron was saying when he was describing his fall and the band of gnomes that had followed them almost entirely home. More than once, Mrs. Weasley looked askance at her. To make matters worse, Ron seemed to be avoiding any direct eye contact at all with her, and only directed conversation at her when it involved passing the salt._

_After dinner, Mrs. Weasley joined in and played Gobstones and chess. Hermione could see where Ron got his talent for chess, for Mrs. Weasley was quite a shrewd player. It wasn't until Mr. Weasley finally arrived home that they decided to call their 3-hour game a tie. _

_Mrs. Weasley began to head off to the kitchen to fix Mr. Weasley a plate when he stopped her with and exhausted look and said, "No, no, darling, I'm really not hungry at all. I ate the other sandwich you brought me for lunch just a while ago. Really, I think I'd just like to head up to bed. I have another early day, you know."_

"_Certainly, Arthur." Mrs. Weasley agreed. "You two should be getting off to bed as well." She said to Ron and Hermione. "Now, hold still, Ron," she continued as Ron stood to make his way upstairs, "and I'll levitate you up the stairs."_

"_Mum, no!" Ron cried out mortified. "My leg's not broken, you know! I can make it up on my own." With that he stood up on his good foot and began to hop over to the stairs._

"_Goodness! What happened to you?" Mr. Weasley said just noticing his injured son._

"_Tripped in a gnome hole, Arthur." Mrs. Weasley answered. "If you weren't so tired I'd give you a tongue lashing about those ruddy gnomes, but that can wait 'til tomorrow." She finished as she leaned in and kissed her husband on the cheek._

"_Well, goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said as she followed Ron as he hopped up the stairs. "And, thanks once again for having me."_

"_You're more than welcome. Good night, dear. Good night, Ron." The Weasleys said together as they followed Ron and Hermione up the stairs and then headed toward their room on the second floor._

_When Ron and Hermione reached the third floor landing, they stopped in front of Ron's bedroom door, and looked at each other awkwardly. _

"_Well… I… ummm" Ron started "better get to bed. All that hopping's starting to make my ankle hurt again."_

"_Oh… yeah…" Hermione said as she looked down nervously at her feet. "Good night, then." _

"_Night." Ron answered and then turned and hopped into his room, closing the door behind him._

_Hermione stood there for a moment. Part of her wanted to open Ron's door and ask him what in the world was going on. Part of her wanted to open Ron's door and throw him on the bed, injured leg and all, and kiss him again. However, the rational part of her told her she should just go to sleep, and so she made her way down the hallway to Ginny's room._

_Once inside Ginny's room she changed into one of the summery nightgowns she had packed. She then brushed out her hair, grabbed her journal and quill, and laid down on the roll away bed to gather her thoughts._

_For years she had been keeping a journal. It was often the only way she could get to sleep at night. So many nights, she'd lie down, her body physically tired, but her mind continued to race, keeping sleep at bay. She found that by writing her thoughts down she was able to clear them from her mind. Sometimes they were merely ramblings about the day's events, other times they were reflections of her hopes, dreams and fears. _

_She had considered asking for a pensieve for her birthday last year, but decided there was something much more cathartic about the whole writing process that she just couldn't give up._

_Tonight, her journal entry was about Ron. Ron and all the feelings he had suddenly brought to the surface in her. Ron and now all the questions she had._

_What did their kiss on the couch mean? Was it just a one-time occurrence? Did he want or expect more? Did **she** want more? If this **did** turn out to be something more, what about Harry? This would affect him. And, what if it didn't work out, then what? Where would it leave all three of them? Was it worth the risk?_

After two full pages of unanswered questions, Hermione felt not only physically drained, but mentally as well. She stood up and put her Journal back into the drawer, under her clothes, and stood looking in the mirror. She smiled at herself, shaking herself in disbelief at what had happened.

"_It's late! You should be in bed!" The mirror scolded her suddenly, causing Hermione to jump a bit._

"_I'm going. I'm going." Hermione replied. _

"_Did you brush your teeth?" The mirror inquired._

"_You sound like my parents." Hermione snapped, but then realizing she hadn't headed out the bedroom door and down the hallway, past Ron's room, into the bathroom._

_The house was quiet except for the gentle snores Hermione could hear coming from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room a flight below. Ron had told her their ghoul had not been the same since Fred and George left, his quietness a sure sign of depression due to the departure of the twins._

_Hermione brushed her teeth, and then began to head back towards Ginny's room. She only walked two steps however, before she stopped outside Ron's door. Gently, she knocked, heart racing in her throat, but no answer came. Quietly, she turned the doorknob and opened the door just enough to step in. _

_Moonlight streamed through the open window on the opposite side of the room, as a warm night breeze fluttered the light curtains. Ron was lying on his back covered only in a sheet, his Chudley Cannons bedspread folded neatly at the foot of his bed._

"_Ron?" she whispered from the doorway._

_Ron's eyes fluttered open and his brow furrowed. "What's wrong, Hermione?" He said quietly as he sat up carefully._

"_Oh, nothing, really." She lied as she watched the sheet slip down to Ron's waist, her mind starting to wonder what exactly Ron was wearing to bed this evening. She took another step into his room. "I just wanted to see how your ankle was doing."_

"_I think it's doing a bit better, actually." Ron said. "But, I can't tell if the bandage is changing color yet." He paused, as if considering his next sentence carefully, "Maybe you could take a look and see if it looks less pink to you."_

"_Sure." She said as she crossed the room, the door coming almost to a close behind her. _

_It took a moment for her eyes to become accustomed to the reduction in lighting. She sat carefully on the side of Ron's bed, pulled the sheet off of his foot and looked closely at the bandage. In the moonlight, it was merely a purplish shade of gray, impossible to tell if it had changed or not, however, she said. "It does look a little lighter."_

_As she turned back to face Ron, she discovered that he had leaned even further forward, his face only a few inches from hers. As tempted as she was to lean forward and kiss him, she was determined to first get some of the answers to the questions she had._

"_Ron, I…" was all she had time to say, though, before he pulled her the rest of the way towards him and claimed her mouth for his own. _

_Goose bumps shivered up her arms as the butterflies in her stomach leapt to life again. All thoughts of unanswered questions fled from her mind as he pulled her even closer to him and she felt the beating of her own heart quicken with excitement. She became very and suddenly aware that she was wearing very little, as was he, which made her heart beat even louder._

_He slowly moved his mouth over to her ear, nibbling gently on her earlobe, sending a fresh wave of goose bumps over her arms._

"_I've wanted to do that all night." He whispered into her ear. "But, you better go, or I won't ever let you leave."_

_He pulled away from her and an uncontrolled whimper escaped Hermione's lips. But, she knew he was right and stood up shakily from the bed._

"_I'm glad you're feeling better." She said as she leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead._

"_Much better, thank you." He said softly and laid back down, his arms behind his head._

_Hermione quietly left his room, returned to her own, and fell immediately asleep._


	3. Flying

Author's Note: First, another BIG thank you to Lea my beta, who is just the cat's meow!!!  Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed the first 2 chapters!! I appreciate the feedback!

Oliver's-Gal: I totally agree. A shirtless Ron is never a bad thing. Stay tuned; maybe Oliver will make a shirtless appearance as well. 

Firebolt1982: I'm glad you're enjoying!!

Mrs.Black-Potte: All I can say is, "Fear not!" 

Chapter 3

A Day of Flying

_The next day Ron's ankle was completely healed. So, Ron and Hermione went off under the guise of Hermione wanting to get some flying practice in. It was true; Hermione did need the practice. Flying on a broomstick was one of the few things that she simply was not able to become skilled at simply by learning the theory behind the act. However, neither Ron nor Hermione thought for one minute that the brooms they now carried over their shoulders, towards the tree ringed clearing the Weasleys had traditionally used for informal games of Quidditch, would actually be used._

_They kept walking, past the stand of trees, across the grassy clearing, and to the other side, so that the sun shone down brightly on them. They set their brooms against a large oak tree, and as Hermione was about to sit down, Ron cried, "Wait!"_

_He reached into his pocket and pulled out a square of cloth. Hermione watched amazed as Ron began to unfold the small square, and then unfold it again, and again, and again, until it was large enough for both of them to sit comfortably upon. _

"_What a beautiful quilt!" Hermione exclaimed as she admired the intricately pieced pattern and delicate threadwork._

"_Mum made it." Ron replied simply as he shook the quilt out onto the ground._

"_Really?" Hermione asked. "I didn't know she quilted."_

"_Yeah, before she took up knitting, all she did was quilt." Ron replied as he sat heavily on the quilt, kicked off his shoes and then leaned up against the base of the large oak tree. " Used to drive Dad mad. Scraps of fabric everywhere." Ron patted the spot next to him, indicating to Hermione that she should sit._

"_Oh, I don't know, Ron." She hesitated. "Don't you think your Mum will be upset if you get this dirty?"_

"_No, it's got a dirt repelling charm on it. Now, sit."_

_Gingerly, Hermione sat down, taking her shoes off carefully making certain they didn't touch the quilt. She crawled over and sat next to Ron, looking out at the peaceful expanse of wild grass swaying in the early morning summer breeze. Quite suddenly, Hermione felt a large, warm hand under her chin, turning her head towards Ron's. _

_All she could do was smile as she looked into Ron's clear, blue eyes. He leaned in and kissed her gently, moving his hand down her neck, across her shoulders and then lightly down her arms. A gentle moan escaped her as Ron deepened the kiss and Hermione turned onto one hip, balancing herself with her right hand firmly planted on the quilt-covered ground and leaned into him._

_Hermione's free hand went up to Ron's hair, entrenching it into the short lengths of coarse copper. She liked his hair short so much better than the long cut he had had for the last two years. But, she thought, it **may** have been fun to run her hands through it when it was a bit longer._

_Ron's one hand was still gliding gently up and down her bare arm, causing ripples of goose bumps to appear on her flesh. His other hand wound its way around her body, and Hermione felt its pressure increase on her back, pulling her even closer to him. Her heart began beating faster as she felt Ron's kisses grow hungrier in nature. She reveled in being able to have this effect on him. Somehow, it made her feel quite powerful knowing he obviously wanted her so. _

But, where was this leading?_ This unbidden thought crept into her head. _

_Hermione wasn't so worried about where their kissing was physically leading, although she wasn't quite ready for **that**, with Ron. What she wanted to know was where was this kissing leading as far as a relationship was concerned? _

_Ron shifted his weight and Hermione found herself lying on her back suddenly, with Ron now on his side kissing her deeply. His mouth moved down and across her jawline and ventured slowly to her neck. He nibbled her gently causing Hermione's breath to catch and release._

"_Ron." She said breathlessly as he continued lavishing her neck with tender nips and sucking._

"_Hermione." He growled back at her, his breath warm in her ear._

"_Ron." She said once again as she felt his lips move to begin nibbling on her earlobe. "We… I want…"_

"_Yes." He answered breathily making the hair at the base of her neck stand on end._

_She couldn't think straight with him continuing his quest to kiss every portion of her neck._

"_Ron. I want to talk to you." She said quickly._

"_So, talk." He replied and continued to move to the other side of her neck._

_Hermione pushed him gently away as he continued to lean forward, trying desperately to resume his kissing. "Hermione!" He complained._

"_Ron, you know your sister's coming home tonight." Hermione started._

_Ron looked at her incredulously. "What, in Diagon Alley, gave you the impression that I wanted to talk about my sister?!"_

"_It's just," Hermione continued, feeling herself redden, "what are we going to tell her."_

"_About…?"_

"_About **this**."_

_Ron looked at her completely confused. "I'm still not following you."_

"_About… oh… **snogging!**" Hermione replied feeling her face burn._

"_Ginny knows about snogging, Hermione, although I wish she **didn't!**"_

"_No, Ron… you are SO thick sometimes… I mean, about **us** snogging. Don't you think she'll ask questions? What are we going to say when she sees us snogging?"_

"_Ohhhh!" Ron said looking as if a light had been turned on in his head. "We just won't let her see us snogging then."_

_With that he leaned in and claimed Hermione's mouth with his. The kiss sent her head reeling and her heart once again racing. But, the question she had still wasn't answered and wouldn't allow her to enjoy herself fully._

"_Ron." She said as she pushed him away from her once again. "Is that what you want?"_

"_To continue snogging you? Yes, that's exactly what I want." He replied as he leaned in again._

"_No," Hermione said as she continued to push him away, "I mean, do you just not want to tell Ginny **anything?**"_

_Ron pulled back a bit, a slight frown on his face, "Yeah, I thought that'd be a good plan, actually."_

"_So, you don't want her to know about us."_

"_Well," he began, "if we tell Ginny, then Mum will end up knowing and then Dad and everyone else in my bloody family…"_

"_And Harry." Hermione added._

"_Yeah, Harry." He said quietly and then turned his head to look across the field just beyond, the tall grasses swaying delicately back and forth as a light breeze caressed them, not unlike what moments before he had been doing to Hermione's arm._

"_It's just that…" Ron continued carefully, "I don't want anyone to start jumping to conclusions. You know?"_

"_No, tell me." Hermione said a bit acidly, one eyebrow arched at him._

"_Well, first off, my mum will probably start planning our wedding the moment she finds out. You know she adores you. And then Fred and George will start needling me about, you know… **stuff**. And, then there's Harry…"_

"_You don't think he'll be okay with us?"_

"_I'm sure he will, eventually." Ron replied. "But, it may be a bit of a shock, you know, at first. Which is why I'd like to wait."_

"_To see how **this**" Hermione waggled her finger between her and Ron "goes."_

"_Exactly. So, you understand?"_

"_Yeah, I do." She conceded. "I suppose it's the smart thing to do. Well, have to be very careful though. Ginny's more observant than you give her credit for."_

"_Good! Then it's settled!" Ron said as he leaned in again and claimed her mouth once again for his own._

"_But, Ron…" Hermione started as he moved his mouth down to begin nibbling on her neck once again. "Is this **just **snogging now?" She asked uncertainly._

"_Well…" He replied in between nips and kisses on her sensitive neck. "right now, it's just snogging, but if you want to do more, I'm up for it."_

"_Ronald Weasley!" Hermione shouted, startling him as she pushed him off her forcefully. "That's **not** what I was talking about!"_

"_What?" Ron asked innocently._

"_I **meant, **us, you Neanderthal! Are we just snogging or…" Hermione sighed not certain she really wanted an answer now, "is there more between us? Emotional - not just physical."_

"_Hermione." Ron said simply, shaking his head and smiling at her. He reached over and took her small hand in his rather large one. "You know how I feel about you. How I've always felt about you."_

"_No," she began turning her eyes away from him, "no, Ron, I don't really."_

"_Hermione," he sighed, "I remember the first time I saw you. Harry and I were sitting in that compartment on the Hogwart's Express and you came barging in. My first thought was, 'Oh hello, she's a pretty witch!'" Hermione turned back to him and smiled._

"_But then," Ron continued, "you started on about seeing the spell I was trying to do with Scabbers, fixing Harry's glasses, telling us to get changed, and everything and I thought, 'Pretty, but a bit of a know-it-all. Shame really.'" It was Ron's turn to smile as Hermione punched him playfully in the arm._

"_Ron! That's hardly fair! I was so nervous! You have no idea!"_

_Ron grabbed her hand again and looked in her eyes, "But, then I got to **know** you, and I thought, 'That Hermione Granger, she's not only the prettiest witch at Hogwart's, but smart, and brave, and caring. What more could a wizard ask for?' And, I still think that today. Does that answer your question?"_

_Hermione looked into his beautiful blue eyes, his completely sincere smile melted her heart and she couldn't answer with words._

_They spent the remainder of the day under the oak, enjoying each other's company. It wasn't until Ron's stomach gave a loud grumble that either realized how late it had gotten. _

_Hermione looked down at her watch and jumped suddenly to her feet, sending Ron rolling off to the side. "Oh, my! We're going to miss tea!"_

_She reached up and brushed a lock of hair that was in her eyes, back behind her ear and then started feeling her hair with both hands. "Oh! My hair!"_

"_What?" Ron said as he began to put his shoes on. "You're hair looks fine." He continued without even a glance at her._

"_Ron! I can feel it! It's a mess!"_

"_Well," he said simply as he finished tying his left shoe, "we were supposed to be flying today. Hair gets messy when you fly."_

"_This," Hermione said pointing both hands at her head frantically, "is not a 'I've-been-flying-all-day' hairdo! This," she continued once again punctuating her words by pointing to her head, "is a 'I've-been-rolling-around-under-a-tree-with-your-son-all-day' hairdo!"_

"_I kind of like it." Ron said as he handed Hermione her shoes and kissed her cheek._

_Hermione began to try to smooth her hair out with her hands, gingerly going through the major snarls with her fingers. "You're mother won't like it!"_

"_Don't worry." Ron said. "You can use my cattycomb."_

"_Oh, funny! How nice to know my funeral arrangements are taken care of because your mother is going to **KILL** me!"_

_Ron laughed, "Not, cat-**UH**-comb, Cat-**TEE** Comb. You know the blasted things are advertised on the Wizarding Wireless non-stop. Bloody jingle drives me insane."_

_Ron began to sing off tune… _

_When your hair is quite a fright,_

_Catty Comb will make it all right._

_Never worry, never fear,_

_Catty Comb is always near._

_Catty Comb. Catty Comb. Caaaatty Coooomb. _

"_I am **so** glad I don't get the WWN!" Hermione laughed._

"_Fine." Ron said as he put back the metallic object he had begun to take out of his back pocket. "If you don't want to borrow my comb, that's fine with me."_

"_No, no, no!" Hermione said as she wrapped her arms around Ron grabbing at the comb behind his back. "I'm sorry. May I please borrow it?" She asked sweetly, kissing him lightly on the lips._

"_Well, since you asked so nicely." _

_He handed her what at first appeared to be a normal men's comb, although rather then being made out of plastic; it was made from silvery metal. A black cat on the thickest portion of the comb continuously transformed from standing, arched back with all of its hair standing on end, to a cat that was lying, curled up peacefully with every hair sleek and in place. The teeth of the comb, however, worried Hermione._

"_I can't use this, Ron. If I put it even near my hair, I'll probably never get it out."_

_The teeth of the comb were very long and fine. Thousands of them in the row, waggled slightly, flexing as Hermione moved the comb._

"_What do you mean?" Ron asked incredulously. "I use it all the time."_

"_Well, my hair's a bit longer than yours now. And, a bit more snarly." She handed the comb back to Ron. "I'll just have to hope I can sneak upstairs before your mum sees me and get to my brush."_

"_Don't be ridiculous." Ron said as he reached out and touched the top of her head with the comb._

"_Ron! Stop!" Hermione started. "You can't just start at the top! I'll end up with one big knot!"_

_But, Hermione was too late. As Ron began to pull the comb down the side of her hair, she felt an odd tingling sensation as the thousands of needle-thin metal teeth began to wander forward of the comb, as if tiny hands were untying each snarl as the comb was pulled through her hair. Ron walked around her, running the comb once through each section of hair as Hermione stood there in disbelief._

"_There. All done." He said as he put the comb back into his pocket and began to refold the quilt into the tiny square of fabric he had originally produced._

_Hermione reached up and touched her now perfectly snarl-free hair with both hands. She ran her fingers through, checking to make certain. "That's amazing! I need one of those combs! Do you know how long it takes me to brush out my hair in the morning?" She said as she continued running her fingers effortlessly through her usually bushy hair._

"_No," Ron said looking at her carefully, "but, now your hair's a bit too neat. If you ask me. Since we were supposed to be flying."_

"_Oh, well maybe your mum won't notice." Hermione said hopefully._

"_No, I think we ought to at least fly around the pitch once or twice, that ought to give you that appropriate windblown look."_

"_Do I have to?" Hermione whinged. _

"_Yes. Get on your broom Miss Granger!" Ron instructed her firmly._

"_Yes, sir." Hermione said obediently and smiled as Ron kissed her quickly and mounted his own broom._


	4. Ginny Returns to the Burrow

Chapter 4

Ginny Returns to the Burrow

_Later that evening, Hermione, Ron and Mrs. Weasley sat in the living room. Ron was perusing the latest copy of Quidditch Monthly, occasionally stopping to point out a picture of some spectacular move or another to Hermione. However, to her it just looked like a bunch of people flying back and forth. She could never understand what was so exciting about Quidditch. _

_Mrs. Weasley was knitting one of the many sweaters she was making for this year's Christmas presents, and Hermione was watching her avidly. She had pulled out her own knitting needles and watched as Mrs. Weasley effortlessly charmed hers to make neat and tidy stitches. _

_"It's so frustrating!" Hermione scowled as her needles clacked together a bit recklessly and dropped a stitch._

_"What dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked taking her eyes from the knitting, certain her needles could carry on without her attention._

_Hermione turned her attention to Mrs. Weasley and her knitting needles fell with a clink to the floor. "I just seem to be absolutely no good at knitting. And, I can't understand why! I've read at least a dozen books, both wizarding and muggle.."_

_"You've read a **dozen** books on **knitting**_!_" Ron exclaimed looking up from his magazine. _

_"And, I've been practicing quite a bit," Hermione continued glaring indignantly at Ron, "I just don't seem to be improving at all!"_

_"There, there, dear," Mrs. Weasley said comfortingly, "it just takes some time."_

_"Oh, I don't know, Hermione," Ron cut in hoping to redeem himself, "I remember the first time I saw a bit of your knitting, I thought it was something Crookshanks had coughed up."_

_"What!" Hermione shouted angrily._

_"But **now**_**," **_Ron continued, "now, those pot holders you've been making for the house elves are quite nice."_

_"Pot holders!" Hermione questioned incredulously. "Ron, those are **hats** not pot holders!" _

_"Oh," he answered simply, "perhaps you should try making pot holders instead. Maybe they'd turn up looking more like hats."_

_Hermione grabbed the throw pillow behind her and began to unceremoniously beat Ron about the head with it._

_"Geroff!" Ron muttered between poundings, holding his hands up to fend off the attack while his mother looked on smiling._

_CRACK!_

_The sudden noise from outside stopped Hermione's assault on Ron, as Mrs. Weasley jumped from her chair. "Ginny must be home!"_

_The three ran out the front door to see the triple-decker, purple Knight Bus on the drive outside. A tall, gangly, and pimply-faced Stan Shunpike was levitating Ginny's trunk out of the bus, and onto the side of the lane as a slightly green-faced Ginny slowly made her way off the bus._

_"Thanks," Ginny managed to mutter to Stan as she stepped onto solid ground. She looked as if she opened her mouth any more she might throw up._

_"Go help your sister with her trunk," Mrs. Weasley said as she pushed Ron towards the slightly swaying Ginny. Ron and Hermione walked forward as the Knight Bus gave another CRACK! and vanished, leaving a swirl of dust in its wake._

_"Ginny!" Hermione said as she gave her friend a hug. Ron gave her a smile and began to levitate the trunk back towards the house. _

_Mrs. Weasley waylaid them for a moment, hugging her daughter tightly. "Have you eaten?"_

_"Yes, Mum," she answered as they returned to the Burrow. "Is Dad home?"_

_"No, not yet, dear," Mrs. Weasley said._

_Hermione and Ron followed Ginny upstairs so she could unpack. Hermione sat on the roll away that was serving as her bed and Ron sat down, instinctively, right next to her. Ginny looked curiously at the two friends sitting so closely together._

_"So," she started one eyebrow arched, "what have you two been up to these last couple of days without me?"_

_"Wh.. What?" Ron stuttered moving a few inches away from Hermione and then deciding it would be safer to move completely over to Ginny's bed. "Why do you ask that?"_

Smooth, Ron._ Hermione thought to herself, shaking her head. "Not much," she answered. "We got some flying in today and Ron showed me the pond yesterday. Oh, and he was almost lynched by a herd of garden gnomes!" Hermione laughed._

_"Really?" Ginny said a smile at the thought of it creeping across her face. "Tell me!"_

_Hermione told Ginny the story, while Ron sulked, saying he didn't find it funny at all. "Little buggers!" Of course, Hermione left out the part after she had bandaged Ron's ankle, only catching Ron's eye for a second and seeing him turn a shade a red that rivaled his hair color._

_"So," Ron asked trying to regain his composure, "how was Potions with Snape?"_

_"Oh, it was miserable!" Ginny said throwing the last of her clothes into her drawer haphazardly and then flopping down onto the cot next to Hermione. Then she looked at Hermione, eyes wide. "Ron told you, I guess?"_

_"Yeah, he did. I hope you don't mind," Hermione answered._

_"No, not really," she sighed. "Bet you think I'm a right idiot, huh?"_

_"Oh no, Ginny, no!" Hermione said imploringly. "I don't think you're an idiot at all! Everybody needs extra help sometimes. Which is the only part I don't understand. Why didn't you come to me? I would have been happy to help you with Potions!"_

_"Well," Ginny said, "first, I didn't really want to admit that I was having so much trouble. You know I thought I'd pull out of it okay. And then I just didn't want to bother you really."_

_"Bother me!"_

_"Yes, bother you. I mean, you were taking both sixth **and **seventh year potions last year! You had enough on your plate!" Ginny replied. "And, then there was everything else going on, you know?" she added quietly, quickly covering her mouth as if she regretted her last remark._

_Hermione smiled at her friend, trying to assure her that she wasn't offended. "So the remedial class was miserable…" she prompted._

_"Was it that slimy git, Snape?" Ron huffed._

_"No, actually, Snape wasn't there much."_

_Ginny told them how on the first day of remedial potions she sat in the potions dungeon with four other students. Dennis Creevey was the only other Gryffindor, the other three were second and third year Hufflepuffs. Ginny had felt uncomfortable, clearly being the oldest student there, but knew if her hopes of becoming an auror were to one day come true, she had to do it._

_Snape had entered the classroom in his usual flourish of black cloak. Menacingly sneering at the small gathering of students, his greasy black locks falling and shading the sides of his face as he looked down his over large nose at the students._

_"You are here in Remedial Potions for one reason," he snarled, his baritone voice reverberating powerfully in the nearly empty chamber. "You have failed to perform to even the lowest of standards and cannot pass on to your next year's course." He paused, the silence deafening as the students held their collective breath. "That is unless, you make marked improvement, right here, right now. _

_"Unfortunately for **you**, I have more important things to do with my holiday than re-teach lessons that should have been learned the first time. For this reason, Mr. Malfoy will be instructing the class."_

_"Malfoy!" Ron's voice interrupted Ginny's story. "Lucius Malfoy! I can't believe Dumbledore would let him anywhere near Hogwarts, let alone teach a class! I thought he was on the run still?"_

_"Not Lucius, you prat!" Ginny scolded. "Draco."_

_Hermione's eyes narrowed at the news. "Draco Malfoy taught remedial potions?"_

_"Oh, yes. And that wasn't the worst part of it." Ginny continued her story. "Snape left right after that and since we were in different years, we had different assignments written on the board. Not much really for Malfoy to do, at first, while we got our ingredients out, so instead he started pacing the classroom. Well, one of the Hufflepuff girls, Abrianna, was sitting right across from me. She's clearly infatuated with the stupid git, because as she was supposed to be getting her potion supplies out, all she could do was watch Malfoy stomp back and forth across the room._

_"Well, it didn't take long for Malfoy to notice. He walked right up to her and then bent very close. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss her!_

_"Instead, I could hear him whisper, 'Are you staring at me?' Well, Abrianna couldn't even speak, she was so nervous. I thought her head was going to explode and Malfoy wasn't backing off. He says, 'Are you having ideas about me?' All the poor girl could do was shake her head, no. _

"_All the sudden Malfoy stood up laughing hysterically. It was the most bizarre thing! Plus, during break, I heard Abrianna telling one of the other Hufflepuff girls that she took it that Malfoy **liked**_ _her!"_

"_You're kidding!" Hermione said._

"_No, I wish I was. Plus, he kept intimidating poor Dennis."_

"_How?" Ron said, his anger rising at the thought of Malfoy tormenting a fellow Gryffindor._

"_Well, he just kept asking him things like, 'Are you sure you want to use bitterroot? Maybe it's bittersweet.' Or, 'Is that how you slice sneezewort?' Even when he wasn't doing anything wrong! By the end of the week Dennis was second guessing everything he was doing."_

"_That bastard!" _

"_Hermione!" Ron and Ginny said together, shocked at the outburst by the usually prim and proper Hermione Granger._

"_Well, he is!" was all she could say to defend herself._

"_Anyway," Ginny continued smiling and shaking her head at her friend, "the whole week was like that. Finally, this morning Snape returned, looking like Hell, by the way, and conducted our practical and written exams."_

"_Pretty bad when Snape is the highlight of your week," Ron mused._

"_That's what I thought," Ginny agreed._

"_So," Hermione questioned cautiously, "how do you think you did?"_

"_Actually," Ginny said a smile breaking across her face, "I think I did quite well! I mean for the last week all I did was eat, drink and sleep potions – well, not literally, we only had to drink one of the potions for testing purposes. Anyway," she continued, "I actually should probably thank ferret face! With him being so annoying the rest of the week, Snape wasn't nearly as frightening, and I was actually able to concentrate on what I was doing."_

"_Well, I think you should tell Mum and Dad about Malfoy. That way if you don't get high enough marks to get into Snape's NEWT level potions class, you can blame it on him," Ron suggested._

"_No!" Ginny said. "That'd be the worst thing in the world! Can you imagine Snape finding out **I** was questioning his teaching methods?" _

"_I agree," Hermione concurred. "Plus, Dumbledore probably knows about it. Maybe Snape had to do something for the Order. No, although Malfoy wouldn't be **my** first choice in assistants, I think it's best to let sleeping dragons lie."_

"_Fine," Ron pouted, "I'm going downstairs to see if Dad's home yet." Ron got up and leaned over towards Hermione, as if to give her a small kiss goodbye. However, he caught himself and instead moved quickly to kiss Ginny on the top of the head. "Umm… glad your home, Gin."_

"_What was that about?" Ginny asked suspiciously as Ron quickly left the room._

"_Don't know. I've never been able to figure him out really," Hermione answered quickly._

_Ginny laughed. "So, tell me about that boy from Eton."_

_Hermione told her about William **and** his girlfriend. _

"_No!" Ginny exclaimed. "Well, we'll have to get you another beaux. Maybe this year you and Harry can finally get together," she said winking at her friend._

"_Harry! You've got to be kidding!" Hermione said, all the while thinking, _I actually have a beaux… I think.

"_Well we'll find you someone." Ginny went on talking about her and Collin. He had apparently been writing her everyday and was even coming by with his brother, Dennis, the next day. Ginny's words began to blur as Hermione pondered what Ginny had said._

I wonder why she would immediately think of Harry, _Hermione thought to herself._ I guess Harry and I are close; and he is handsome. _She had to admit, more than once she had found herself just staring at Harry's mouth when they were doing revision. For some reason, she just wanted to kiss those lips, at least just once to see what it was like. And, now she was with Ron._

Funny how things turn out,_ she continued her thoughts. Who would've thought that the pair of them, polar opposites that they were, would actually get together. _I guess opposites attract. _She knew why she was attracted to Ron. He was first a friend, although she had not been able to confide in him the way she had with Harry, that was okay, she knew she could trust him with her life. That was saying something._

_Plus, he was funny. Oh, not as funny as Fred and George, but they were a bit over the top anyway, for her taste. Ron was also quite smart, when he wasn't acting so stupid. He was brilliant at chess, she had to give him that. _Plus, perhaps he has extended his emotional range beyond a teaspoon; maybe he's worked up to a whole tablespoon! _She thought, laughing silently._

_Then there was the physical attraction she had felt when he had taken off his shirt. That definitely had to account for something. She remembered being with Viktor. There was **no** physical chemistry there at all. It had been torturous to pretend so when she had visited him the summer after their fourth year._

"_Hermione! Are you listening to me?" Ginny's voice broke into her private thoughts._

"_Wh.. What? I'm sorry, Gin, I was just thinking of something else," Hermione said truthfully._

"_Well," Ginny continued a bit hurt, "I was just saying how lucky you are that you don't have to take Potions this year."_

"_Lucky?" Hermione laughed. "Are you kidding? Instead I've got private tutelage with Madame Pomfrey in Healing. You know how strict she is when someone's sick or injured, can you imagine her as a teacher!"_

"_Maybe you should take a break from the academics and find yourself a good man," Ginny suggested wiggling her eyebrows at Hermione._

"_Seriously!" Hermione responded as she smiled at her friend. "Is that all you ever think about?"_

_The remainder of the week went by quickly. Collin and Dennis Creevey did indeed spend the following day with them, and Hermione spent a good portion of the afternoon watching the four of them play Quidditch in the same clearing, where the day before she had spent alone with Ron. Mr. Weasley turned up late each night, while Mrs. Weasley fussed that he wasn't getting enough to eat and that even though he was Minister of Magic now, he didn't have to run the whole government by himself. _

_Each day was a blur of Quidditch, wizard's chess and listening to Ginny talk incessantly about Collin. Ron had mastered himself quite nicely and didn't slip again around his sister or his parents, when it came to showing any overt affection towards Hermione. In fact, if Hermione hadn't known better, she would've thought their first two days together had been a dream, a pleasant and slightly erotic dream, but a dream nonetheless. Each night, however, she had confirmation that it hadn't been a dream._

_Hermione and Ron had developed a routine of sorts. Hermione would wait until Ginny fell asleep, her deep breathing confirming that she was out for the evening. She would listen carefully for Mr. Weasley's grunting snores a floor below, and when all the Weasley family members seemed to be asleep, she gathered up her toothbrush and toothpaste and made her way down the hall towards the bathroom, deciding this would be the perfect ruse should Ginny be awake when she returned. However, instead of making it to the bathroom, each night she stopped outside Ron's bedroom door, which was always left conveniently ajar._

_The first night Hermione had snuck into the moonlit room and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, not certain if she was welcome. Ron quickly waylaid any of those fears, however, as he grabbed her and pulled her roughly to him. For a fleeting moment, thoughts of broaching the subject of what their relationship exactly was crossed her mind, but were gone in a thrice as he nibbled on her earlobe and whispered how glad he was to see her._

_The last night Hermione was to spend at the Weasley's was just like the previous nights, except Ginny had wanted to spend the entire night talking into the wee hours about Collin and possible suitors for Hermione. Hermione told her that she would consider the rather long list of potential boyfriends Ginny had created, if she would just let her get some sleep. A half hour later, Ginny's rhythmic breathing told her that she had finally fallen asleep._

_Carefully, Hermione gathered up her toothbrush and toothpaste, knowing full well that she had just brushed her teeth a couple of hours ago, and made her way silently down the hall towards Ron's room. The door, as usual, was slightly ajar and she entered noiselessly, closing it partially behind her. As she crossed the room towards him, Ron sat up on one elbow, the sheet slipping to his waist and the moonlight reflecting off his broad shoulders._

"_What took you so long?" he whispered as he admired the sleeveless nightgown Hermione was wearing._

"_Your sister," Hermione replied. "She wanted to talk all night."_

"_I thought you weren't coming," Ron smiled. "You should've done a sleeping charm on her or something."_

"_I almost did," Hermione confessed as she sat down on the bed next to him setting her unused toothbrush and toothpaste on his nightstand. "If my wand wasn't packed in my trunk already…"_

"_I'm going to miss our little nightly rendezvous," Ron interrupted as he ran his fingers lightly up and down Hermione's bare arms sending waves of gooseflesh ahead of his fingertips._

"_Me too," Hermione replied honestly. She took a deep breath and was just about to revisit the questions that had bothered her since the beginning, knowing she may not have another chance. Where was this leading? When were they going to tell Harry? Was this just a summer fling or something more? But, Ron's warm, soft mouth kissing his way up her arm distracted her of any worries._

_Hermione let out a breath she had forgotten she was holding, as her body trembled under his kisses. Ron's mouth slowly made his up her arm and across the back of her shoulders, as he sat up behind her, stopping momentarily to languish on the back of her neck as his arms wrapped around the front of her protectively. Instinctively, Hermione turned in his embrace and met his mouth eagerly with hers._

_CHING-A-CHING-CHING! The sounds of chains rattling from somewhere above caused Hermione to jump up from Ron's bed suddenly._

"_What was that!" She hissed nervously, her heart pounding in her throat. She wished she had brought her wand along with her._

_Ron grabbed her hand and eased her back onto the bed. "It was just the ghoul," he said softly._

"_Oh," was all she could reply before his lips were searing into hers and her heart started racing for a completely different reason._

_Hermione tilted her head back and let a soft moan escape her lips as Ron kissed his way down the nape of her neck and his hands began to delicately unbutton the front of her nightgown._

_BANG!_

_Ron's bedroom door flew open and the garish hall light flooded his room causing the two to blink stupidly like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle._

"_Ron! Did you hear the ghoul? I think he's feeling better!" Ginny shouted excitedly and then stopped, the smile faded from her face as the scene she was seeing began to register. "What, exactly are you two up to?" She asked one eyebrow raised suspiciously at them._

"_W… We… We were…" Ron stuttered._

"_I… I was…" Hermione continued unintelligibly as she haphazardly buttoned the buttons on her nightgown. "I was just going to brush my teeth," she spat out finally as she grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste from the nightstand, waggling it wildly in front of her to prove her point. "I think I have a bit of that roast beef caught in a molar. You know how that can be?" She added hopefully._

"_Well, I think I got it now," Hermione continued as she got up and made her way towards the door. "Umm, thanks, Ron, for… umm… taking a look at my tooth."_

"_Uh… yeah…" Ron muttered, "anytime."_

_Hermione tried to make her way past Ginny, who was planted firmly in the doorway, hands on her hips. "I don't think so," she said simply. "Now, tell me what's going on."_

_Hermione and Ron stuttered an almost incoherent explanation, neither wanting to say too much, and Hermione listened to see if Ron would say too little. After a few minutes of muttering, Ginny had gotten the picture._

"_So, have you told Harry?" She asked._

"_No," Hermione said, as she sat back down on the edge of the bed dejectedly, "not yet."_

"_Well, I think you need to!" Ginny said indignantly. "It's the least you two could do. He is your best friend, isn't he?"_

_Hermione and Ron both looked down muttering, "Yes," "You're right" and other bits of agreement._

"_And you need to tell Mum and Dad too!" She continued sternly._

"_Aw, come on, Ginny!" Ron whinged. "You know how Mum will get."_

"_Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Ginny scolded. "You two will either tell Harry, Mum and Dad first thing tomorrow morning or I will!" With that she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room._

"_Well," Ron started as he looked up pleadingly into Hermione's eyes, "what are we going to say to Harry?"_

_Hermione took his hand in hers and smiled reassuringly. "We'll think of something." _


	5. Two Letters and Some Death Eaters

Chapter 5

Harry stood at the front window, looking out at the perfectly manicured front lawn of Number 4 Privet Drive. The late summer sun glared harshly down from above, reflecting off Uncle Vernon's new sedan, occasionally catching Harry in the eye with a sharp ray. Someone from the Order was to take him to Kings Cross, he just wasn't certain who or how. The one thing he knew was that he was anxious to leave.

Harry's trunk lay behind him, with Hedwig's cage on top; the owl sleeping with her head tucked neatly under her wing. Everything he owned was in that trunk. Harry hoped he'd never have to come back to this house or see his relatives again.

He glanced behind him and caught a glimpse of his Aunt Petunia peeking out of the dining room to see what Harry was up to. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him and pursed her lips tightly. Rather than saying anything she simply turned and returned to the kitchen, where Uncle Vernon and Harry's cousin, Dudley, were waiting.

_You'd think they'd at least say good-bye, _Harry thought miserably as he turned back to the window.

He continued to scrutinize every movement outside the pristinely clean picture window. He saw a shiny, red sedan similar to the one his uncle just bought, but it simply trundled past the house. A woman on a bicycle rode by, that Harry thought looked familiar, but she too went by without a glance at Number 4. He sighed heavily and continued to scan the sunlit street.

A few moments later Harry saw another figure making its way down the opposite side of the street. Slowly, an elderly man walked with a small terrier pulling him along. Surely this couldn't be his escort? Harry watched as the man and his dog inched closer, the dog stretching the lead as far as it would go. As they moved directly opposite Number 4, the dog stopped and pointed his nose directly across the street at the Dursley's house.

Harry stepped back from the window, pulling his wand from his back pocket of his jeans, and peered around from the side. He could see the elderly man saying something to the dog, and then watched in horror as the dog suddenly lunged towards the house. Although small, the muscular build of the terrier and the sudden change in movement nearly pulled the old man off his feet. The man regained his footing, and Harry could see him trying to pull the dog back that was now in the street, barking viciously at apparently nothing.

Harry's heart caught in his throat and sweat began to build on his forehead as the dog slowly began to wear the elderly man down and began to edge across the street. Harry's grip tightened on his wand and his eyes narrowed as he held his breath in anticipation.

"Haven't you left yet!" his aunt's voice shrieked from right behind him.

Harry jumped around, instinctively fixing his wand on his aunt's chest.

"Wh.. what are you doing with that _thing_ out?" she questioned nervously, her eyes darting between Harry's outstretched wand and the intense look in his eyes.

Taking a deep breath and without a reply, Harry turned back to the window, but the elderly man and the dog were gone.

_The dog must've seen one of Mrs. Figg's cats, _Harry tried to tell himself logically, _and the old man got him under control and went on their way._

But, as Harry looked down the street he saw no sign of the man and his dog. _They couldn't have gone around the corner that quickly_, Harry thought as he pressed his head against the cool of the glass trying to see if the old man had perhaps turned back the other way. But, no, there was no trace of him.

"You still haven't explained yourself!" Aunt Petunia's voice broke in once again. "And, get your forehead off my window! You'll leave smudges!"

"I thought I saw something," Harry replied lamely.

"Well," Aunt Petunia continued her lips pulled back over her horsy teeth in a grimace, "the only thing I want to see is you on your way out of here."

_Well, _Harry thought to himself, _I guess there's my good-bye._

However, before he could reply in kind, a long, shiny, stately, black limousine pulled up in front of the house.

"Oh my," Aunt Petunia uttered as she turned and headed quickly back to the kitchen.

Harry smiled as he saw Kingsley Shacklebolt exit the passenger side front seat of the impressive vehicle and make his way up to the front walkway.

Not wanting to wait a moment longer, Harry tucked his wand back into his back pocket, grabbed Hedwig's cage with one hand and his trunk with the other. The wheels he had transfigured from a pair of buttons he had found lying at the bottom of a drawer and attached magically to one end of his trunk caught momentarily on the threshold of the doorway, as if in protest of Harry's leaving. However, with a strong tug, the wheels freed themselves and began to roll effortlessly towards the tall, bald figure of Kingsely Shacklebolt just feet from the doorway.

"Hello, Harry. Let me help you with that," Kingsley said with a smile as he took the trunk from him. As Kingsley and Harry walked back towards the limo, Harry turned back for one last look at the house he had lived in for so long, yet never really thought of as his home.

A bittersweet feeling swept him as he saw his aunt, uncle and cousin now standing on the front porch. Petunia Dursley stepped forward and made her way down the walkway towards her nephew. Harry stopped, unsure what to do, as Kingley continued to the car, the boot of the car opening for him, as if by magic, for him to put in the large wooden trunk.

Harry watched his aunt approach as the golden rays of sun caressed the top of his head. _I guess I should say thank you, _Harry thought as he soaked in the late summer warmth.

Petunia Dursley reached him quickly. Harry opened his mouth to begin to say something of the appreciation he had for the Dursleys for allowing him to stay there for the past 16 years. Even though they had never been exactly nice to him, all right, they had been down right cruel most of the time, they still had given him a roof over his head, food on the table, and because of this they had kept Voldemort and his followers at bay. Certainly, that deserved a thank you. However, before Harry could utter even a single syllable, his aunt swooped in, putting her face within inches of Harry's.

"Here me clearly, boy," she hissed between clenched teeth, "NEVER… DARKEN… OUR DOORSTEP… AGAIN!"

"No problem," was all Harry could think to say as he turned and continued to walk towards the limousine and Kingsley waiting for him.

As he walked, he felt the anger flush his cheeks warmly and then noticed the heat of the summer sun cool as a dark cloud obscured it from sight. Quite suddenly, a cold wind whipped along Privet Drive, which was emphasized with the sudden dark shadow cast by the cloud. Harry had just reached the limo and put Hedwig on the floor of the back seat when he heard POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

Harry turned to look for the source of the noise. In an instance he took in several things, as if time had slowed down.

Harry noticed that six cloaked wizards with white masks had appeared with their wands pointed at Number 4. Mad Eye Moody, the paranoid ex-auror, had also appeared out of nowhere and his wand drawn and pointed at the Death Eaters in front of him. Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin seemed to be quite confused at the sudden appearance of so many strange characters on their neatly manicured front lawn, and Uncle Vernon appeared to be about to tell them off, for one was crushing his begonias.

Time regained its normal pace as Moody turned to Harry, his magical eye swiveling nauseatingly in its socket. "Get that damned wand out of your back pocket, boy! What've I told you about that!"

With those words, quite suddenly the melee began. The Death Eaters had begun throwing curses at Number 4. The first hit Dudley square in the chest, and Harry watched in horror as his cousin's lifeless body slumped to the ground. His Aunt Petunia had nimbly ducked another curse and made for the other side of the sedan. Uncle Vernon let out a howl of rage as another spell hit his precious automobile, shattering the windows. He foolishly lunged over the body of his dead son, towards the offending Death Eater, who sent a Cruciatus Curse at the large Muggle for fun.

In a thrice, Harry had his wand out and he, Moody, Kingsley, and Tonks, the young auror who had been apparently driving the limousine, had joined the fray, distracting the Death Eaters from their original targets. Moody hit the Death Eater standing in the begonias with a "Stupefy!" that sent him reeling across the lawn. The other two Death Eaters, changed their focus to the group by the limo, sending a barrage of curses in their direction.

"Get the boy out of here!" Moody ordered.

"We're not leaving you alone, Moody!" Kingsley shouted back as he narrowly ducked an Expelliarmus! from one of the Death Eaters.

Harry ducked down behind a hedgerow and sent out a Blasting Curse that nicked the shoulder of one of the Death Eaters and sent blood and flesh spraying out behind him.

Suddenly POP! POP! POP! POP! filled the air and four more wizards appeared from nowhere on the surreal scene unfolding on Privet Drive. Remus Lupin, Bill and Charlie Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher had all apparated on the other side of Uncle Vernon's now significantly damaged sedan, taking advantage of the cover of the hunk of steel.

"There's backup," Moody said sternly, "now get Harry out of here!"

Kingsley grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him into the back of the limousine. Tonks ran around the other side of the vehicle, sending a Cheering Charm at one of the Death Eaters who doubled over in laughter, before hopping in the driver's seat. Kingsley pulled the door of the car closed just as Tonks squealed the tires and took off down the drive.

Harry turned in his seat and peered out the back window of the limo, watching arcs of green and red light being sent by the members of the Order at the Death Eaters.

"Don't worry," Kingsley said from next to him, "they'll take care of that bunch."

Harry turned to look at the large bald man and saw he was applying a healing charm to the top of his thigh where a large gash was bleeding quite freely.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'll be fine," Kingsley answered with a grimace as the wound began to slowly close.

Harry felt a lunge and heard a BANG! When he looked out of the window again they were nowhere near Privet Drive.

"I'm sorry about your cousin," Kingsley said solemnly.

"Thanks," was all Harry could think to say.

The smoked window between the passenger compartment and the driver's compartment slid down, and Harry could see Tonks' bright aquamarine hair spiked so high it scraped the ceiling of the car.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks said as she turned around to look at Harry. "Bit of excitement, eh? You OK there, Kingsley?"

"I'll be fine, thanks," he replied.

Harry watched in amazement as Tonks continued looking behind her, not paying attention to where she was steering the limo. Several dustbins and a mailbox leaped out of the way as she went up over the curb. And, Harry almost screamed as the vehicle then veered sharply into oncoming traffic, but somehow seemed to slip between two oncoming lorries.

"You know they'll do their best to protect your aunt and uncle," Tonks voice broke into the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride horror Harry was watching out the window.

Harry turned his attention to Tonks' concerned face and said, "I know, thanks."

Harry sat back into the plush, buttery soft leather seat of limousine and began to think about what he was soon to face. Somehow the fight going on at the Dursley's didn't worry him too much. He was more concerned with what he was going to find on Platform 9 ¾. His mind raced back to just a few weeks earlier when he had received the letters from Hermione and Ron.

Pig, Ron's owl, had come fluttering into his bedroom like a feathery golf ball gone mad. Harry was barely able to get the letters from the teensy owl's leg as he fluttered manically.

"_I wonder if they have Ritalin for owls?" Harry mused as he finally freed the owl of his burden._

He opened Hermione's first.

Dear Harry,

I'm not sure how to start this letter. As you know, I've spent the last week at the Burrow, with Ron and Ginny. Well, you also know that Ron and I are a bit like oil and water, but, as they say, opposites attract.

Perhaps I'm not certain what to say in this letter, because I'm not really certain exactly what it is I'm trying to tell you. Oh, that didn't make sense at all! I'm sorry, this is so much more difficult then I'd imagined. It's just that Ron and I have sort of become involved.

Well, not involved, like dating. At least he hasn't said anything about that, but it's possibly heading that way. Yes, I guess that's how best to describe it. Oh, everything's so up in the air. I'm not certain how he feels about me. Perhaps it's just a summer fling, but either way I thought you should know.

I'll write you more when I get home. I have to tell you about Malfoy and Ginny's remedial Potions class. Did you know she was taking remedial Potions? I don't know why she didn't ask me for help last year!

I hope everything if going well at the Dursley's. I'll see you at King's Cross in a couple of weeks.

Love,

Hermione

Harry set Hermione's letter on his bed and as he felt his head pounding madly, he opened Ron's letter.

Hello Harry,

How's everything going, mate? Well, it's been a bit crazy. Ginny just got home from remedial Potions a few days ago. Did I tell you she was taking remedial Potions? I don't know why she didn't just ask Hermione for help last year. Anyway, that complete sodding, git – Malfoy – actually oversaw her class! Can you believe it! I guess he was giving Collin a hard time, making him even twitchier than he already is. We are definitely going to have to pay a little retribution to ferret face!

Anyway, Hermione's been here for a few days as well. I guess we're kind of an item. I can't believe it really. One minute I'm getting attacked by garden gnomes the next thing I know she's got her tongue down my throat! I'm not complaining though, mate! I'll fill you in on the details. I would've written you sooner, but with Hermione here it's been a bit busy.

Ginny thinks your going to whig out that we didn't tell you sooner. I told her she's a nutter. Then she slugged me. God she can hit hard for a little whip of a thing!

Well, got to go, Pig's buzzing about my head and I'm about to throttle him.

See you in two weeks!

Ron

_Harry did the only thing he could think of. He crumbled up both letters and with a quiet, Incendio, lit the two letters on fire. _


End file.
